Download Section 4 - River Dynasties in China

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4
River Dynasties in China
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
POWER AND AUTHORITY The
early rulers introduced ideas
about government and society
that shaped Chinese civilization.
The culture that took root during
ancient times still affects
Chinese ways of life today.
TERMS & NAMES
• loess
• oracle bone
• Mandate of
Heaven
• dynastic
cycle
• feudalism
SETTING THE STAGE The walls of China’s first cities were built 4,000 years
ago. This was at least a thousand years after the walls of Ur, the great pyramids
of Egypt, and the planned cities of the Indus Valley were built. Unlike the other
three river valley civilizations, the civilization that began along one of China’s
river systems continues to thrive today.
TAKING NOTES
Following Chronological
Order On a time line,
identify major events in
early Chinese dynasties.
event 1
event 3
>
event 2
The Geography of China
Natural barriers somewhat isolated ancient China from all other civilizations. To
China’s east lay the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean.
Mountain ranges and deserts dominate about two-thirds of China’s landmass.
In west China lay the Taklimakan (TAH•kluh•muh•KAHN) Desert and the icy
15,000-foot Plateau of Tibet. To the southwest are the Himalayas. And to the
north are the desolate Gobi Desert and the Mongolian Plateau.
River Systems Two major river systems flow from the mountainous west to the
Pacific Ocean. The Huang He (hwahng•HUH), also known as the Yellow River,
is found in the north. In central China, the Chang Jiang (chang•jyhang), also
called Yangtze (yang•SEE), flows east to the Yellow Sea. The Huang He, whose
name means “yellow river,” deposits huge amounts of yellowish silt when it
overflows its banks. This silt is actually fertile soil called loess (LOH•uhs),
which is blown by the winds from deserts to the west and north.
Environmental Challenges Like the other ancient civilizations in this chapter,
China’s first civilization developed in a river valley. China, too, faced the dangers of floods—but its geographic isolation posed its own challenges.
• The Huang He’s floods could be disastrous. Sometimes floods devoured
whole villages, earning the river the nickname “China’s Sorrow.”
• Because of China’s relative geographic isolation, early settlers had to
supply their own goods rather than trading with outside peoples.
• China’s natural boundaries did not completely protect these settlers from
outsiders. Invasions from the west and north occurred again and again in
Chinese history.
China’s Heartland Only about 10 percent of China’s land is suitable for farm-
ing. Much of the land lies within the small plain between the Huang He and the
50 Chapter 2
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Ancient China, 2000–200 B.C.
°N
40
Extent of Shang Dynasty
(Approximate)
The Huang He, or Yellow
River, is named for the color
of its silt. This silt nurtured
early development of Chinese
civilization and is still a vital
resource today.
Extent of Zhou Dynasty
(Approximate)
Border of modern China
SE
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IN
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River)
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CHINA
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(Y
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OCEAN
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ow e
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DE
RT
Yellow silt gives the Huang He
a distinctive color.
GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps
1. Location Describe the location of the Huang He and Chang Jiang in terms of where they
begin and end.
2. Region What area did the Shang and Zhou dynasties control?
Chang Jiang in eastern China. This plain, known as the North China Plain, is
China’s heartland. Throughout China’s long history, its political boundaries have
expanded and contracted depending on the strength or weakness of its ruling families. Yet the heartland of China remained the center of its civilization.
Civilization Emerges in Shang Times
Fossil remains show that ancestors of modern humans lived in southwest China
about 1.7 million years ago. In northern China near Beijing, a Homo erectus skeleton was found. Known as Peking man, his remains show that people settled the
river valley as much as 500,000 years ago.
The First Dynasties Even before the Sumerians settled in southern Mesopotamia,
early Chinese cultures were building farming settlements along the Huang He.
Around 2000 B.C., some of these settlements grew into China’s first cities.
According to legend, the first Chinese dynasty, the Xia (shyah) Dynasty, emerged
about this time. Its leader was an engineer and mathematician named Yu. His floodcontrol and irrigation projects helped tame the Huang He and its tributaries so that
settlements could grow. The legend of Yu reflects the level of technology of a society making the transition to civilization.
About the time the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley
fell to outside invaders, a people called the Shang rose to power in northern China.
Early River Valley Civilizations 51
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Lady Hao’s Tomb
Lady Hao was a wife of king Wu Ding,
a Shang ruler, during the 1200s B.C.
Her relatively small grave contained
some 460 bronze artifacts, 750 jade
objects, and more than 6,880 cowry
shells. Also found in the tomb beside
Lady Hao’s coffin were the remains
of 16 people and 6 dogs.
Writings found in other places
reveal a remarkable figure in Lady
Hao. On behalf of her husband,
she led more than one military
campaign, once with a force of
13,000 troops. She also took charge
of rituals dedicated to the spirits
of Shang ancestors, a duty reserved
for the most distinguished members
of the royal family.
INTERNET ACTIVITY Create a
multimedia presentation about Lady
Hao’s tomb and its contents. Go to
classzone.com for your research.
The Shang Dynasty lasted from around 1700 B.C. to 1027
B.C. It was the first family of Chinese rulers to leave written
records. The Shang kings built elaborate palaces and tombs
that have been uncovered by archaeologists.The artifacts
reveal much about Shang society.
Early Cities Among the oldest and most important Shang
cities was Anyang (ahn•YAHNG), one of the capitals of the
Shang Dynasty. Unlike the cities of the Indus Valley or
Fertile Crescent, Anyang was built mainly of wood. The city
stood in a forest clearing. The higher classes lived in
timber-framed houses with walls of clay and straw. These
houses lay inside the city walls. The peasants and craftspeople lived in huts outside the city.
The Shang surrounded their cities with massive earthen
walls for protection. The archaeological remains of one city
include a wall of packed earth 118 feet wide at its base that
encircled an area of 1.2 square miles. It likely took 10,000
men more than 12 years to build such a structure. Like the
pyramids of Egypt or the cities of the Indus Valley, these
walls demonstrate the Shang rulers’ ability to raise and control large forces of workers.
Shang peoples needed walled cities because they were
constantly waging war. The chariot, one of the major tools
of war, was probably first introduced by contact with cultures from western Asia. Professional warriors underwent
lengthy training to learn the techniques of driving and
shooting from horse-drawn chariots.
Comparing
What did Shang
cities have in common with those of
Sumer?
The Development of Chinese Culture
In the Chinese view, people who lived outside of Chinese civilization were barbarians. Because the Chinese saw their country as the center of the civilized world,
their own name for China was the Middle Kingdom.
The culture that grew up in China had strong unifying bonds. From earliest
times, the group seems to have been more important than the individual. A person’s
chief loyalty throughout life was to the family. Beyond this, people owed obedience
and respect to the ruler of the Middle Kingdom, just as they did to the elders in
their family.
Family The family was central to Chinese society. The most important virtue
was respect for one’s parents. The elder men in the family controlled the family’s
property and made important decisions. Women, on the other hand, were treated as
inferiors. They were expected to obey their fathers, their husbands, and later, their
own sons. When a girl was between 13 and 16 years old, her marriage was
arranged, and she moved into the house of her husband. Only by bearing sons for
her husband’s family could she hope to improve her status.
Social Classes Shang society was sharply divided between nobles and peasants.
A ruling class of warrior-nobles headed by a king governed the Shang. These noble
families owned the land. They governed the scattered villages within the Shang
lands and sent tribute to the Shang ruler in exchange for local control.
Religious Beliefs In China, the family was closely linked to religion. The Chinese
believed that the spirits of family ancestors had the power to bring good fortune
52 Chapter 2
Vocabulary
tribute: payment
made to keep peace
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or disaster to living members of the family. The Chinese did
not regard these spirits as mighty gods. Rather, the spirits were
more like troublesome or helpful neighbors who demanded
attention and respect. Every family paid respect to the father’s
ancestors and made sacrifices in their honor.
Through the spirits of the ancestors, the Shang consulted
the gods. The Shang worshiped a supreme god, Shang Di,
as well as many lesser gods. Shang kings consulted the gods
through the use of oracle bones, animal bones and tortoise
shells on which priests had scratched questions for the gods.
After inscribing a question on the bone, a priest applied a
hot poker to it, which caused it to crack. The priests then
interpreted the cracks to see how the gods had answered.
Development of Writing In the Chinese method of writing,
Recognizing
Effects
How did writing
help unite China?
each character generally stands for one syllable
or unit of language. Recall that many of the Egyptian hieroglyphs stood for sounds in the spoken language. In contrast,
there were practically no links between China’s spoken language and its written language. One could read Chinese without being able to speak a word of it. (This seems less strange
when you think of our own number system. Both a French person and an American
can understand the written equation 2 + 2 = 4. But an American may not understand
the spoken statement “Deux et deux font quatre.”)
The Chinese system of writing had one major advantage. People in all parts
of China could learn the same system of writing, even if their spoken languages
were very different. Thus, the Chinese written language helped unify a large and
diverse land, and made control much easier.
The disadvantage of the Chinese system was the enormous number of written
characters to be memorized—a different one for each unit of language. A person
needed to know over 1,500 characters to be barely literate. To be a true scholar, one
needed to know at least 10,000 characters. For centuries, this severely limited the
number of literate, educated Chinese. As a general rule, a nobleperson’s children
learned to write, but peasant children did not.
▲ The earliest
evidence of
Chinese writing
is seen on
oracle bones
like this one
found in the
city of Anyang.
Chinese Writing
The earliest writing systems in the world—including
Chinese, Sumerian, and Egyptian—developed from
pictographs, or simplified drawings of objects. The
writing system used in China today is directly related
ox
goat, sheep
tree
moon
to the pictographic writing found on Shang oracle
bones. As you can see in the chart below, the ancient
pictographs can still be recognized in many modern
Chinese characters.
earth
water
field
heaven
to pray
Ancient
symbol
Modern
character
Early River Valley Civilizations 53
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New dynasty gains
power, restores
peace and order, and
claims to have
Mandate of Heaven.
Strong dynasty
establishes peace
and prosperity; it is
considered to have
Mandate of Heaven.
In time, dynasty
declines and
becomes corrupt;
taxes are raised;
power grows weaker.
Dynastic Cycle in China
Dynasty is overthrown
through rebellion and
bloodshed; new
dynasty emerges.
Old dynasty is seen as
having lost Mandate
of Heaven; rebellion
is justified.
Disasters such as
floods, famines,
peasant revolts,
and invasions occur.
Zhou and the Dynastic Cycle
Around 1027 B.C., a people called the Zhou (joh) overthrew the Shang and established their own dynasty. The Zhou had adopted much of the Shang culture.
Therefore, the change in dynasty did not bring sweeping cultural change.
Nevertheless, Zhou rule brought new ideas to Chinese civilization.
Mandate of Heaven To justify their conquest, the Zhou leaders declared that the
final Shang king had been such a poor ruler that the gods had taken away the
Shang’s rule and given it to the Zhou. This justification developed over time into a
broader view that royal authority came from heaven. A just ruler had divine
approval, known as the Mandate of Heaven. A wicked or foolish king could lose
the Mandate of Heaven and so lose the right to rule. The Duke of Shao, an aide of
the Zhou leader who conquered the Shang, described the mandate:
Vocabulary
mandate: a command or instruction
from a higher
authority
PRIMARY SOURCE
Heaven, unpitying, has sent down ruin on Yin [another name for Shang]. Yin has lost the
Mandate, and we Zhou have received it. I dare not say that our fortune would continue
to prosper, even though I believe that heaven favors those who are sincere in their
intentions. I dare not say, either that it would end in certain disaster. . . .
The Mandate of Heaven is not easy to gain. It will be lost when men fail to live up to
the reverent and illustrious virtues of their forefathers.
DUKE OF SHAO, quoted in The Chinese Heritage
The Mandate of Heaven became central to the Chinese view of government.
Floods, riots, and other calamities might be signs that the ancestral spirits were displeased with a king’s rule. In that case, the Mandate of Heaven might pass to
another noble family. This was the Chinese explanation for rebellion, civil war, and
the rise of a new dynasty. Historians describe the pattern of rise, decline, and
replacement of dynasties as the dynastic cycle, shown above.
Control Through Feudalism The Zhou Dynasty controlled lands that stretched
far beyond the Huang He in the north to the Chang Jiang in the south. To govern
this vast area, it gave control over different regions to members of the royal family
and other trusted nobles. This established a system called feudalism. Feudalism is
a political system in which nobles, or lords, are granted the use of lands that legally
belong to the king. In return, the nobles owe loyalty and military service to the king
and protection to the people who live on their estates. Similar systems would arise
centuries later in both Japan and Europe.
At first, the local lords lived in small walled towns and had to submit to the
superior strength and control of the Zhou rulers. Gradually, however, the lords grew
stronger as the towns grew into cities and expanded into the surrounding territory.
54 Chapter 2
Synthesizing
According to
Chinese beliefs,
what role did the
Mandate of Heaven
play in the dynastic
cycle?
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Peoples who had been hostile toward the lords gradually accepted
their rule and adopted Zhou ways. As a result, the local lords became
less dependent on the king. More and more, they fought among
themselves and with neighboring peoples for wealth and territory.
Improvements in Technology and Trade The Zhou Dynasty pro-
duced many innovations.
• Roads and canals were built to stimulate trade and agriculture.
• Coined money was introduced, which further improved trade.
• Blast furnaces that produced cast iron were developed.
Zhou cast iron production would not be matched in Europe until
the Middle Ages. The Zhou used iron to create weapons, especially
dagger-axes and swords. They also used it for common agricultural
tools such as sickles, knives, and spades. Iron tools made farm work
easier and more productive. The ability to grow more food helped
Zhou farmers support thriving cities.
256 B.C. The Zhou empire was generally peaceful and stable. Gradually, however,
Zhou rule weakened. In 771 B.C., nomads from the north and west sacked the Zhou
capital and murdered the Zhou monarch. A few members of the royal family escaped
and set up a new capital at Luoyang.
However, the Zhou kings at Luoyang were almost powerless, and they could not
control the noble families. The lords sought every opportunity to pick fights with
neighboring lords. As their power grew, these warlords claimed to be kings in their
own territory. As a result, the later years of the Zhou are often called “the time of
the warring states.”
Amidst the bloodshed, traditional values collapsed. The very heart of Chinese
civilization—love of order, harmony, and respect for authority—had been replaced
with chaos, arrogance, and defiance. As you will learn in Chapter 4, the dynastic
cycle was about to bring a new start to Chinese civilization.
4
SECTION
These Chinese
coins are made of
bronze. Their
shape resembles a
digging tool such
as a hoe or spade.
▲
A Period of Warring States The Zhou ruled from around 1027 to
ASSESSMENT
TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
• loess
• oracle bone
• Mandate of Heaven
• dynastic cycle
• feudalism
USING YOUR NOTES
MAIN IDEAS
CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING
2. Which event do you think was
3. Between which two rivers is
6. RECOGNIZING EFFECTS In your judgment, what are the
a turning point in Chinese
history?
the heartland of China found?
4. What family obligations did a
Chinese person have?
event 1
5. How is the dynastic cycle
event 3
>
event 2
connected to the Mandate of
Heaven?
benefits and drawbacks of the belief that the group was
more important than the individual?
7. COMPARING How did the social classes in Shang society
differ from those in Egyptian society?
8. ANALYZING MOTIVES Do you think that the Zhou
Dynasty’s downfall resulted from its method of control?
Why or why not?
9. WRITING ACTIVITY POWER AND AUTHORITY Study the
dynastic cycle. Then write a letter to the editor
suggesting that the current ruler should be replaced.
CONNECT TO TODAY CREATING A POSTER
Research the Three Gorges Dam Project in China. The project will place dams on the Chang
Jiang. Create a poster showing the locations of the dams, some statistics about them, and an
explanation of the project’s purpose.
Early River Valley Civilizations 55